It was a wonderful weekend for the bastard stepchildren of New York sports out on Long Island. While the Jets were busy busting up the San Diego Superduds, rumors began swirling that the Mets were about to finalize a deal with free agent Carlos Beltran. For two teams who are usually relegated to the back of the TV listings, this weekend brought about a significant alteration of New York’s sacred sports landscape by introducing two new gunslingers to the Wild Wild East.
This weekend marked a changing of the guard. The perennially hapless Jets overcame a few semi-bonehead plays, one really bonehead play ,and a Mike Tyson pre-fight press conference. In a city where the Giants reign supreme, the Gang Green have quietly made the playoffs three of the last four years. Excluding the franchise’s one Super Bowl title, Herman Edwards has guided the Jets to the most prolific era of their history.
Prior to this weekend, Edwards was the guy whom everyone knew for the press conference where he boldly announced that “you play to win the game.” It sounded a lot better than it does written out, but the point remains that Edwards was known as a players’ coach who had yet to really achieve success. Then, in the blink of an eye, Edwards took what should have been an assured defeat, grabbed it by the throat (or was that one of his assistants?) and willed the Jets to a huge road playoff win. Legacy sealed.
Winning is always assumed in New York so it was a refreshing sight to see a New York team that was a clear underdog overachieve by so much. If Edwards were my coach, I’d overachieve too. Bring Randy Moss to New York and he’ll be singing in the church choir by the time Edwards is through with him. Think you’re going to moon the fans on his watch? He’ll be over there with his clipboard spanking you like Momma used to. In a city filled with primadonnas and empty leaders, Edwards stands out.
But Edwards is not the only fresh face gracing the landscape. Over in Flushing, new Mets’ GM Omar Minaya has completed his newest addition to the fixer-upper that is the New York Mets. After swooping in to snatch Pedro Martinez, a move that must have pissed off the suits in the Bronx, Minaya pulled another fast one to secure Beltran. Sure, he overpaid, and by now we all know that Beltran was offered to the Yankees at one year and $19 million less, but there is a bigger story here.
For years the Mets have been saddled with a bloated payroll that grew annually with aging has-beens while prime superstars walked into Shea Stadium and promptly walked out once they realized that the Mets were stingier than the U.S. after a tsunami. But Minaya somehow managed to change owner Fred Wilpon’s perspective, and now the Mets have made the two biggest off-season acquisitions of any team and are in line for a third as talks with slugging first baseman Carlos Delgado heat up.
Edwards and Minaya have done what was previously unthinkable by making two irrelevant franchises very relevant. The Jets may not make the Super Bowl. In fact they probably will not make it out of Pittsburgh. The Mets may not even get a wild card spot this season, let alone win the National League East. What is for certain, however, is that these teams are no longer side stories to New York’s beloved franchises. There are some new sheriffs in town, and they have both made clear that they will be taken seriously.
